South Africa's biggest union calls strike for March 19

JOHANNESBURG, March 16

JOHANNESBURG, March 16 (Reuters) - South Africa's biggest
union has called a one-day strike for Wednesday to highlight
youth unemployment in the country, where one in four people are
jobless, the union said.

The 340,000-member National Union of Metalworkers of South
Africa (NUMSA) draws its members from car manufacturing, the
metal industry, transport and general workers.

The strike would be the latest in a string of work stoppages
in Africa's largest economy, weeks before a May 7 general
election.

"It is a strike that members in all other unions can join.
We think half a million workers will take part," Karl Cloete,
deputy general secretary of NUMSA, told Reuters on Sunday.

In December, NUMSA, the biggest bloc in the COSATU labour
grouping, said it would not support the ruling African National
Congress in the election.

Many South Africans are disgruntled by the slow pace at
which the ANC led by President Jacob Zuma is rolling back
poverty two decades after the end of apartheid.

A strike over wages in the platinum sector has been going on
for nearly two months and has cost employees more than 3.8
billion rand ($354 million) in lost earnings.

The strike has cost mining companies 8.6 billion rand in
revenue so far, according to a tally updated almost every second
on the Chamber of Mines' website.